Entrepreneurship :In the News

Old Town environmental consulting firm Triterra, is now offering geothermal heat system services.

According to excerpts from the article:

Geothermal
heat systems services, a new technology that takes advantage of
Michigan’s ground temperature, are now available through Triterra.
Triterra is a professional environmental sustainability consulting and
Brownfield development services firm founded in Lansing, Mich.

Geothermal
heat systems utilize the ground temperature to provide efficient
cooling and heating. It regulates the temperature by transfer heat from
the earth into the building to add warmth during the winter. Similarly,
summer heat is transferred back into the ground to cool the building.
It is considered a much efficient and environmentally friendly sourceof
heating and cooling.

There are two different
types of geothermal heat and cooling systems: closed loop and open
loop. It is important to consult a hydrologist to ensure that the
correct loop and process for your project is done correctly.

Synergy
bubbles throughout the Technology Innovation Center as ideas and
creations are vetted — ideas that hopefully grow into new
technology-based businesses and jobs for the area.

Located
in East Lansing on the third floor of the Barnes & Noble Building,
the center houses start-up businesses that pay market rent for their
space, but have reduced fees for access to the Internet, conference
rooms and office equipment. It's a way to encourage and help
entrepreneurs prove themselves in the marketplace without huge start-up
costs.

Asthe holiday shopping season kicks off — and merchants brace for anotherlean year — a small group of online entrepreneurs is setting up shoparound one of retail's only bright spots: The gift card.

Yes, the gift that says "I put almost no effort into this" has morphed into a $90 billion industry, according to the TowerGroup,a Massachusetts research and consulting firm. Sales of gift cards—thatis, any card issued by a merchant redeemable for goods andservices—jumped to $97 billion in 2007 from $57 billion in 2005. Whilethe dollar figure dipped in 2008, First Data,a retail tracking service, found that shoppers actually bought moregift cards than the year before; they just loaded less money onto them.

"Whenthe dust settles, we see gift cards surpassing $100 billion by 2012,"said Brian Riley, research director for the TowerGroup. Onlineentrepreneurs who've built businesses around the phenomenon are bankingon it. Here's how they're cashing in on plastic fever:

Thegift card without the card. Shoppers choose a merchant "card" and ane-gift card pops up in the recipient's inbox,which can be redeemedin-store or online. "My intent was to take that department-store kioskmodel and put it online," says founder Sam Hogg, who came up with theidea while taking a Sustainable Supply Chain class at Michigan State University.

Who's in: The mass (Forever 21, Target)and the deeply niche (Culinary Teas, Glitzy Pet Jewelry) How it paysoff: Merchants compensate the East Lansing, Mich., company by paying apercentage of sales, or paying to have traffic driven their way ortheir logo placed next to a big company like Target. GiftZip began inJune; Hogg expects to break even early next year.

Intricate cake designs from A Piece O’ Cake in East Lansing have made it into a national magazine that features all aspects of wedding design and planning.

According to excerpts from the article:

Kelly Kobus has taken that primal yen for comfort food to a whole new level with her East Lansing bakery, A Piece O’ Cake.

Kobus, 24, bought A Piece O’ Cake from the
previous owners two years ago right after she graduated from college.
She was a French major and an art minor, but she always had a love for
food. During her senior year she studied abroad in France, where she
took some cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu and also took private
classes. These classes led to her working with (and studying under)
some of Paris’s top gourmet chefs, and when she came home her career
began to take shape.

“When I came back, I started interning at Le Chat Gourmet
[a classical French culinary arts program in Eaton Rapids], and soon
afterward my dad found this bakery for sale,” Kobus said. “I talked to
the owner, and she asked me if I had graduated from culinary school,
and when I told her no she told me that was perfect. She said, ‘They
teach you pastries in culinary school, but they don’t teach you the art
of the cake.’”

Dugener
said entrepreneurs are a subset of enterprising persons, those who come
up with new ideas. He said Michigan must create a culture where both
types can survive. And that hasn't been the case. Dugener cited the
case of one friend who had a great business idea, thought about
starting it in Michigan but eventually started it in Texas. Dugener,
working for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. at the time, asked
the friend why Texas got the company.

Replied the friend: "In Texas, when you're an entrepreneur, you're a
hero. . . . In Michigan, when you're an entrepreneur, you're treated
like a criminal. 'You must not be able to hold down a job.' 'Why aren't
you working for one of the Big Three?' 'You have an MD PhD, what are
you doing starting a company?'"

Dugener used a quote from economist John Maynard Keynes, "Most men love
money and security more, and creation and construction less, as they
get older," to explain how Michigan has for decades trained its
children to be employees, not employers. Michigan is a state built on
command and control, he said, where a few people at the top get to have
all the ideas, and everyone else has to merely implement those ideas
like a good drone.

Two years ago, Handy´s
Mexican Market and Deli changed hands. Now Daniel Pesina, the store's
new owner, is changing up the merchandise, too.

According to excerpts from the article:

“We’ve changed a few things,” Pesina said. “We added merchandise and we’ve found bigger distributors with better costs for us.”

Pesina
and family members bought the store from Ken Handy, who started in
1970. It was the first Mexican specialty market in Lansing.

Pesina
wants keep the store’s legacy intact. “There’s always that saying,” he
said. “If it’s not broke, let’s not fix it.” Over three decades,
Handy’s became known as a small, family store, a great place for
friendly conversation as well as homemade pork rinds. The staff will
even carry groceries to your car.

Schuler Books & Music,
which has locations in Lansing and Okemos, has turned to Espresso Book
Machine, a machine that can print a book as quickly as a barista can
make an espresso.

According to excerpts from the article:

When
University of Michigan graduate Bill Fensenheld began selling books
more than 25 years ago in a dusty Ann Arbor bookstore, he had no idea
that one day another UM grad, Google founder Larry Page, would give him
access to millions of books to sell at his own shops.

Schuler
Books & Music, a Michigan based book retail chain started by
Fensenheld and his wife, Cecile, will soon be able to offer books
printed on-demand for customers in its Grand Rapids, Okemos and Lansing
locations.

Espresso book machine prices
range from $75,000 to $90,000, depending on speed. The only other
Espresso in the state is at a University of Michigan Library.

At
this point, the mini chain has purchased a single Espresso for its 28th
Street store in Grand Rapids, but it will deliver on-demand books to
its Okemos and Lansing stores several times a week.

The Ignite Lansing 2.0 event was a huge success, with roughly 500 people packing the Temple Club in Old Town Lansing to toss around ideas and listen to multiple, five minute presentations.

According to excerpts from the article:

The
Ignite program is a worldwide event hosted by individual communities.
Lansing’s first Ignite event was in April, and program volunteers said
they hope to host another event next spring.

“I
think it’s a really cool opportunity, especially for start-up firms to
get their ideas out there,” said international relations senior
Jennifer Seager, a volunteer at Ignite Lansing. “A lot of times these
ideas sit under the water because they can’t find people to fund them,
or get them off the ground, because you need support.”

Before the event, Spotlight Michigan, an MSU
group, hosted Eve of Ignition. It encouraged MSU students to mimic the
IgniteLansing event by presenting their own projects.

Five students were selected from five student organizations to make
their presentations and compete for the opportunity to start their own
business.

Spotlight Michigan was born out of a James Madison College seminar last
year, which since has grown to a yearlong seminar promoting
entrepreneurship in Michigan.

Tripper’s General Manger Steve Tripp is celebrating the 20-year anniversary of Tripper’s, an Frandor-based bar founded by his brother Jim.

According to excerpts from the article:

MSU and Michigan fans alike were able to finally have a place to root for their teams.

“In this business you need to change with the times," said Steve Tripp, General Manager and brother of Jim.

“Our
father Fred Tripp was the guiding light in starting this business with
our foundation in the restaurant business and strong ties to MSU.”

“Jim
was always trying something different. He wanted to be able to offer
our guest a big city experience, whether it was the Game Room Arena,
Martini’s or the Comedy Zone. He wants Tripper’s to be a place to spend
the day.”

Less than a year after creating its first incubator, the City of East Lansing will open its second, this one designed to foster student entrepreneurs.

According to excerpts from the article:

The
Hatch will be located in the 1,500-square-foot gallery at Scene
Metrospace, an alternative art and performance venue at 110 Charles St.
It'll be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, the
days Scene Metrospace is closed.

When it
opens, The Hatch will be similar to the Technology Innovation Center in
that it offers low-cost workspace for entrepreneurs to do business. But
The Hatch is solely for students.

"One of
the major benefits of this space is that chance encounter with somebody
that's doing something similar to what you're doing or ancillary to
what you're doing, and the two organizations move forward together or
start doing business together," Smith said.

Roseville-based National Coney Island has opened a new National Coney Station at 565 E. Grand River Ave. in East Lansing.

According to excerpts from the article:

For
advertising junior Eric Dornbrook, Thursday’s grand opening of the
National Coney Station, 565 E. Grand River Ave., would be the beginning
of a love–hate relationship, he said.

“It’s really a disaster, is what it is,” Eric Dornbrook said. “We live two blocks away, and now we’re never leaving.”

For Michiganians like Dornbrook, National Coney
Island was a staple of childhood and its arrival in East Lansing means
Hani sandwiches and Coney dogs will now be an option for students.

National
Coney Island was first founded in Roseville, Mich., in 1965, and since
then, the restaurant has popped up in more than 20 locations, most of
them in metro Detroit. East Lansing’s National Coney Station is the
first of its kind in the Lansing area.

Through their company, Rock N Go,
Williamston moms Cheryl Miller and Heather Lewis have created a fun,
effective way to continue their children’s education while shuttling
them around town.

According to excerpts from the article:

The
Williamston moms came up with their own alternative, starting Rock N Go
LLC three years ago. Together, they have produced a line of educational
music CDs that encompass such musical genres as punk, blues and reggae
that come with workbooks and materials for kids to enjoy in the car.

The
CD packages have covered counting, addition, subtraction, drawing and
watercolor painting. And they've caught the attention of the National
Parenting Center in Woodland Hills, Calif., which has given the "So
Skip Counting" CD and workbook kit its 2009 Seal of Approval.